260,000.00. Two hundred and sixty thousand dollars. $260,000.00

That was Klaus’s total amount after the Auction House took their commission percentage.

Receiving this amount meant what to Klaus Park? Well, everything, but mostly hope. After making so many important decisions in the last week, this was what he needed most at the moment.

Although this amount was not even ⅕ of his family’s debt, receiving this absurd amount of money for one item made him think of two things:

The first thing was that the Druid Beast Mount was indeed very rare.

The second was that he was now rich in the game, at least more so than most newcomers.

As soon as he left the Auction House and saw that all the money was already in his account, the first thing he did was to log off to convert to dollars some of this money. He already knew what to do with all this money, because he always daydreamed a few times a week about what would happen if he suddenly won a fortune.

Some people would run to Las Vegas and gamble all the money to try to multiply it, which would be a great way to go bankrupt.

Other people would flee to a third-world country, invest the money, and start living off the proceeds alone.𝗈𝒱𝒍xt.𝚌𝗈𝐌

However, Klaus was not someone who was afraid that he would run away so easily. In fact, he was someone pretty wise even though he was so young.

When the deposit notification from the conversation appeared on his cell phone screen, he smiled pleasantly. His bank account had been almost zeroed out a few minutes ago, with less than $10, but now there was $150,000. Looking at the many zeros was mind-blowing and almost addictive.

Klaus didn’t delay long and immediately called the number of the  Happy Life Hospital in his address book.

“Service from the Financial Department of Happy Life Hospital. Good afternoon; how can I help you?”

“Good afternoon. My name is Klaus Park, and I want to prepay future monthly fees for a relative of mine who is hospitalized in your hospital.”

“Right~ What is the name of the patient in question?”

“Rhyzer Park.”

“…”

*Tec, tec, tec!*

“Mr. Klaus, it appears on our system that there are several overdue invoices for this patient. Wouldn’t you like to pay them instead of paying invoices in advance?”

“No. I prefer to pay invoices in advance.”

It cost $5,000 a week to keep the equipment that kept Rhyzer alive, a nurse to care for him, and the room in the hospital turned on. Per month, that was around $20,000. That monthly amount multiplied by the continual interest on years’ worth of late fees was what created the Park’s huge deficit. So Klaus knew that new debts would be generated in the coming months even if he paid the most arrears. That way, the best option was to stagnate the monthly interest and not let it multiply with future arrears. It was better to ensure that the next bills would be paid than to pay old ones, so the debt wouldn’t keep increasing.

“All right, that’s possible. How many monthly payments will you be paying?” advised the operator.

“The next five months,” said Klaus, not believing that he had finally been able to say that after rehearsing this call so much in his imagination.

“December, January, February, March, and April, correct?”

“Correct.”

“Sir, the invoices have been sent to your e-mail. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Just that for now, thank you.”

“The Happy Life Hospital thanks you for your call. Have a nice day, mr…”

*TAP*

Klaus hung up the call before the woman could finish speaking. He took a deep breath, looked at his empty room, and said to himself:

“That money may not be enough to make the bank change its mind about the mortgage, but it will be enough to relieve my family’s stress for a few months.”

He then hurried down the stairs of his house, slightly alarming his mother, who was tidying up some other boxes of items in the living room.

“Oh, Klaus! You scared me!” said Chun with his right hand on his chest.

“Mom, I have great news.”

Chun stopped pulling out the books that were on the low bookshelf and, holding one of them, turned to look at her son.

She knew it had been years since Klaus had said he had good news. In fact, the last time she had heard him say something like that was when he received his first contract offer from a professional organization. In other words, if Klaus claimed to have great news, then it was true.

“What?” As she stood up, she asked with surprise.

“I got two hundred and sixty thousand dollars.”

Klaus did not state this with a smile or a more playful tone. He spoke with a serious face and centered eyes without shaking his voice.

“That’s not funny.”

Klaus’ words sounded to Chun Park like a fallacy; however, seconds passed, and he did not take back what he said.

“Wait, are you serious?” Her eyes finally grew wide, and her voice trembled.

“Yes, I wouldn’t joke about something so serious.” He smiled, wryly, because he joked about it as a child.

Chun was so shocked that she fell backward, landing on the couch behind her. “… How? You… You stole this?!”

Klaus obviously laughed. “Erh? Of course not. I got a rare item in the game I’m playing, but this item would be more like a problem to me at the moment than helping me, so on impulse, I put it up for sale. Surprisingly, the amount it sold for was $300,000. Only the place I sold it to take an absurd commission fee, so there was $260,000 left.

He explained as simply as possible so as not to confuse his mother.

Chun looked at him with narrowed eyes and inquired:

“You saying you stole would be easier to believe than that lie, don’t you think, Klaus?”

With a smile, Klaus picked up his cell phone, opened the bank’s app, and transferred $50,000 to her.

The transfer notification immediately arrived on her cell phone, which vibrated and emitted a brief jingle. By coincidence, the cell phone was on the table next to Klaus, who picked up the device and handed it to Chun.

“Look at this.”

When Chun looked at the lock screen of her cell phone, there was a notification from the bank app. Urged, she unlocked her phone, slid the notifications tab down, and saw at the top the notification of the transfer coming from Klaus Park in the amount of $50,000.

Chun, filled with a growing emotion, sobbed softly.

Klaus approached her, touched her shoulder with one of his hands, and stated:

“Don’t worry about anything else. That money is for you.” He then sat down next to her. “More than anyone else in our family, you are the one who has dedicated me to keep us together and strong all these years. I have already decided that with the rest of the money, I will pay some bills and invest in the game to get an even bigger return… Mom, I promise you that I will get us out of this situation.”

With tears on her face, Chun looked at Klaus, put her right hand on his chin, and smiled joyfully.

“Look at you… You have grown so much, son. I’m so proud of you!”

If, to see that smile from his mother, Klaus needed to play 20 hours of Rise Online every day to get more money, he would do it without a second thought.

…

Edited by: DrHitsuji

If you want to see original illustrations of Rise Online characters, consider helping me on pa treon: Pa treon.com/NandoFalske

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